Harmon Saddle Shop

A Harmon saddle starts with the tree, the wooden frame under the leather. Joshua Harmon tried woods native around Orange, settled on sycamore, and hewed hollowed trunk sections to shape. A red star stamped on the back skirt was his mark. His son Charles was not first a saddler. In 1895 he moved to the prairie north of Hankamer to farm and raise cattle, but neighbors kept bringing him repairs, and in 1896 he quit farming and opened the shop. The shop stands on private property; this marker gives no public access.

What the plaque says

Harmon Saddle Shop The Harmon family began making saddles in East Texas before the beginning of the Civil War. As early as 1856, Joshua Harmon (1821-1896) engaged in saddlery on a part-time basis in the city of Orange. By the 1870s, when he and his wife, Cleonize (Peveto), moved to Chambers County, Joshua had a well-established reputation for saddlemaking among cowboys and ranchers along the Texas Gulf Coast. After purchasing land and settling in what is now Hankamer, Joshua Harmon joined with another saddler, Christian Bingle. Harmon carved the saddletrees from native wood, while Bingle worked the leather. Two of Joshua's sons followed in his footsteps. Jesse (1851-1937) operated a saddle shop in Orange, but it was Charles S. (1869-1953) who officially opened the Harmon Saddle Shop in 1896. The business was run very informally, with little advertising, but Harmon saddles gained a widespread reputation for comfort and durability. Over the years, ownership of the Harmon saddle shop has remained with the Harmon family. The business has become an important institution in Chambers County. (1985)

Where it stands

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